Purple Quail-Dove
Geotrygon purpurata
Stunning dove found in very wet rainforest in the lowlands and foothills of western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Notable features include a chestnut back, pale belly, golden neck patches, and a striking head pattern. Might be confused with the duller Olive-backed Quail-Dove in dark forest, where color is not easy to discern; note the neck patches and stronger contrast between white forehead and darker crown on Purple Quail-Dove. Usually encountered alone, quietly walking along the forest floor. May ascend to a low perch when flushed or when it sings—a soft whistle repeated every few seconds.
Identification
The purple quail-dove is 22 to 26 cm (8.7 to 10.2 in) long and weighs about 155 g (5.5 oz). The adult male has reddish-brown upperparts with a purplish wash, rich reddish purple wing coverts, and bright ultramarine back and rump. The tail is blackish with white tips on the outer three feathers. The underparts are grayish white. The head has an intricate pattern of indigo crown and nape, mostly white face and throat, a blackish purple malar stripe, and iridescent golden green sides of the neck. The eyes are pale red surrounded by bare black skin. The adult female is duller than the male and the upperparts are a less rich red-brown. Juveniles are even duller, with a less distinct facial pattern, buffy markings on the upperparts, and no iridescence.
Taxonomy
The purple quail-dove was at one time considered a subspecies of sapphire quail-dove, now Geotrygon saphirina but then named Osculatia saphirina. Since the early 2010s it has been treated as a separate species.
- Scientific name
- Geotrygon purpurata
- Authority
- (Salvin, 1878)
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Geotrygon
Range and habitat
The purple quail-dove is found from northwestern Colombia south to northwestern Ecuador. It inhabits the ground and undergrowth of primary and older secondary evergreen montane forest. In Colombia it ranges from 200 to 1,100 m (660 to 3,610 ft) in elevation but only up to 700 m (2,300 ft) in Ecuador.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The purple quail-dove forages on the ground, singly or in pairs. Its diet has not been documented but it probably eats seeds and small invertebrates like other quail-doves.<p>A male purple quail-dove with enlarged testes was taken in Ecuador in June, but no other information about its breeding phenology is known.<p>The purple quail-dove's song is "a sustained series of soft, hollow coos, 'whot, WHOO-OO-OIT'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher
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Unusual, chunky, short-tailed, crested, yellow-eyed member of the vanga family. Males are strikingly black-and-white, with a small white patch at the front of the wing. Females have a chestnut back, blackish head, and pale underparts. The wings are short and rounded, and the flight is weak. Found in the canopy of humid forest, at low and middle elevations, often along forest edge and clearings. The variable song consists of slurred whistles. Calls include rasps and clearer bulbul-like notes.
Rufous-capped Lark
Calandrella eremica
A medium-sized slender pipit-like lark with a long tail and relatively weak bill. A washed-out version of Blanford’s and Red-capped Llarks, which it replaces on the Somali and Arabian peninsulasNote whitish eyebrow and diffuse reddish-brown crown that can be raised into a small crest. Some individuals have pale reddish-brown sides to the chest on otherwise very plain pale underparts. Pairs and small flocks are resident and partial migrants in open and sparsely vegetated regions, including stony areas. Pairs or small groups forage on the ground, where they can be surprisingly cryptic, running around in short bursts and stopping to forage. It can also be found drinking at waterholes. The song, often given in an extended undulating pipit-like display flight, is a series of unmusical whistles and trills incorporating mimicry of other birds.
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